What Happens on the Normandy
by Fiera Sabre
Summary: Shepard can't sleep. Can Garrus help? GarrusxFemShep. ParagonColonistWarHeroFemShep I'll warn you now, this is fluffy! It's T for some suggestive themes/scenes


**What happens on the Normandy, stays on the Normandy**

By Fiera Sabre

Summary: Shepard can't sleep. Can Garrus help? Can be seen as separate or set a while after Sick Day.

Rating: T, for some more suggestive themes/scenes.

Pairings: GarrusxFemShep

Notes: Well, this WAS going to be a songfic, but it completely got off track shortly after I finished writing Shepard's intro bit. It's so far gone from the actual song, I'm not even going to say what it was. Anyways, enjoy the extreme fluffiness of the entire thing with bits of humor here and there. And as always, please read and review!

--Fee

Shepard tossed in her bed; eyes glued open instead of shut. She hadn't had a wink of sleep yet this night, and she had no idea why. Her bed felt empty and much too large, and she couldn't seem to get comfortable, every position doing something to agitate her. Groaning, she tossed the twisted covers off her and padded out of her room in her pajamas. She was sure it probably wasn't right to be walking the darkened corridors of her ship, the _SR1 Normandy_ like this, but she knew her crew so well she suspected they wouldn't mind. As it turned out, she needn't have worried at all, for she passed no one during her short journey to the crews quarters she normally didn't visit.

Smiling, Shepard arrived at her intended destination. Garrus was probably her closest friend—more, she wished—on the whole ship. Not wanting to wake him, she slid the door open manually and crept in silently. A heavy, contented peace settled over her as she watched him sleep, his chest rising and falling steadily in the almost light of his darkened room. Shepard froze as Garrus shifted in his sleep, turning onto one side, and only let out her breath when his even breathing returned. Thinking she should go, she began to turn around when something inside stopped her.

Karri bit her lip in indecision, then stepped towards his bed (which was actually a double bed, which he had requested, which meant—no, stop thinking, stop!) and gingerly set her weight on the edge. This quickly progressed to her slipping under the covers, and inching her back towards him until her shoulders just touched his chest. She had to stifle a small squeak when one of his arms moved across her and rested at her waist, then gently tucked her closer to him. With his warm breath regularly brushing over her neck, she relaxed and quickly fell asleep.

Garrus generally woke slowly, not wanting to leave his warm bed, but this morning his eyes opened rapidly as he noticed there was someone in bed with him now. His heart gave a lurch as he found himself gazing at Shepard's sleeping form tangled with him. He had no idea as to why she was there, but it was nice…No, this was probably a dream. In fact, he should have thought of that right away, as he had experienced several such as this. The turian had known he was in love with Karri for some time now, but had come to the decision that he wouldn't do anything if she didn't. He sometimes wondered idly if he was the first turian to actually love a human, given the general animosity between their people.

Still not sure if this was real or not, Garrus tenderly stroked a finger along her shoulder, reveling in the soft silky skin beneath his fingertip. Her arms were wrapped around him, and vice-versa, and one of her legs was draped over his. This all felt too real to him to be dismissed as a dream, and he was captured in this moment of time that was theirs. The room still held that peaceful drowsiness that was always present when one was waking up, but at the same time it felt different. There was an addition of happiness that he knew resided in him, and judging by the relaxed, contented expression on Karri's face, she might feel the same way. After all, she _had_ come down here and gotten into bed with him. He could probably take that as meaning she held some kind of affection for him.

The turian's sense of time told him it was close to when he usually woke up, and he realized with a start that Ashley usually came in to wake him up directly after she did. Despite her slight distrust of aliens in general, they had formed a friendship over the mechanics they loved. After he mentioned how slow he was to wake normally, she suggested that she stop by his room and wake him up on her way out. He'd agreed gladly, and now actually got his breakfast hot, instead of lukewarm or cold. However, it might be awkward for all of them if she walked in on them. Still, he wasn't sure what to do about it. If he woke Shepard, that wouldn't make her go away; she'd just be awake when Ashley got there. And to be honest, he didn't really have the heart to wake her when she looked so peaceful, and she got so little rest as it was.

Garrus got caught in the moment again, as he tried to memorize every sensation, every angle of her face, her steady, soft heartbeat and the way it felt to have her in his arms. Thus it was that he didn't notice the quiet chime of his door just before it opened, and Ash's loud, sing-song voice started to break through. He whipped his hand to his face and held a finger to his mouth in the silent human expression of 'shut up!' Garrus didn't have to signal twice. Ashley's mouth hung open in surprise, and she looked back at Garrus with one eyebrow raised, clearly wondering exactly what the story here was.

He sent her his most bewildered expression, and she simply crossed her arms and sent him a look that clearly said, 'Oh, really?' He glared at her, and she had to bite her lip to keep from grinning. An evil grin spread over her face, and Garrus was somewhat alarmed. He quickly reinforced his glare with a short shake of his head, clearly telling her _not_ to say _anything_ about this. Her face drooped in mock disappointment and she pouted for a second before giving up and leaving. Garrus let out a sigh of relief when the door closed, before deciding reluctantly to wake Shepard up.

"Karri…" He said softly, realizing it might not wake her up, and still hesitant to do so. "Karri, you need to wake up. Shepard?" he raised his voice to see if that would do it, and ran his fingers through her soft hair, loosely combing it back from her face.

"Mmmhph…" Shepard gave her unenthusiastic reply to whoever was trying to wake her up. Even as she tried to stay asleep, she realized she was very cozily entangled with someone else, and remembered climbing into bed with Garrus last night…

"Oh!" She shot up in bed, her face flushing deeply with embarrassment. "Garrus, I, uh, sorry…" her frazzled brain ran out of words, and she finally took notice of the way he was looking at her. He was studying her closely, trying to read her expression, and she was trying to do the same, wondering if maybe he hadn't minded the intrusion.

"Don't be." His voice had that curious resonance now that seemed to come and go depending on the situation. In the back of her mind, she wondered if it was something like when a person's voice got husky…or something. "I certainly don't object to it. I was just waking you up; it's breakfast time."

Shepard's eyes widened slightly at his indirect insinuation, and completely ignored the breakfast comment. "Do you…Are you…Ah, what I mean to ask is, er…Areyousayingyoulikemeasmorethanafriend?" Even Karri was surprised at how fast the words had come out. She hadn't known her tongue possessed such alacrity. "Sorry," She muttered, sure that her ears were bright red.

"You want to run that by me again?" Garrus couldn't help but chuckle at how fast the words had tumbled out.

Taking a deep breath, Shepard looked Garrus in the eye, and asked again. "Do you like me as more than a friend, Garrus? 'Cause if you do, I…I'll just say it now, I like you as more than a friend." Shepard could feel the fear twisting in her gut, and absently wondered why she could face down a thresher maw without flinching, but this? Never again.

Garrus sat up slowly, until he was a little over eye level with Shepard. His heart was pounding so loudly in his ears, he was sure she could hear it, but given the anxious expression on her face she was concentrating solely on his coming reply. "Yes, I do, Karri. I was only waiting to see if—Oof!" he was cut off as Karri tackled him with a tight hug, and they ended up in a position similar to that which they woke up in. She surprised him when she pressed her lips to his mouth in a kiss of sorts, then pulled back after a long moment, looking faintly embarrassed. A smile worked its way onto her face though, and she was grinning as she leaned in close and said brightly, "I love you, Garrus."

It was his turn to surprise, and he switched their positions in one swift move. She seemed speechless as he lowered his forehead to touch hers gently, and whispered the same back. She kissed him briefly, then wriggled out from under him and switched on the wall comm. He could only watch as she thought for a moment, then keyed in a frequency.

"Joker, this is Shepard."

"Yes Commander?"

"I understand a good number of the crew have been pretty stressed lately. Is that correct?"

"I believe so, Ma'am. A lot of people talk to me, you know, and mostly I hear that they want a break."

"Well, I don't foresee any real trouble coming of us taking a day off. Joker, would you inform the crew that today will be a day off? And take us back to the Citadel. I'm sure everyone will appreciate some time off the ship."

"Yes Ma'am, right away. Joker out."

Shepard turned back to Garrus with a suggestive smile. "Got anything in mind for your day off?"


End file.
